HPV declines with age

Preliminary results from an Australian survey of the human papillomavirus - HPV - has shown very high rates in young women, which decline with age.

HPV causes cervical cancer and with HPV immunisation, the patterns of HPV infection should change. The vaccine though only covers a couple of the most carcinogenic versions of HPV. So to know whether the vaccine will really make a difference, it's important to get a baseline of HPV in Australian women.

Reassuringly, it turns out that the forms of virus covered by the vaccine are the commonest and that nearly half of the young women aged 18-22 surveyed, carry one of these types. That sounds scary till you discover that by the age of 35, the proportion's down to about fiver per cent. In other words HPV usually goes away by itself.

This supports the trend in cervical cancer screening to focus more on older women. But what we don't know is the rate of infection in males because to be effective it may be that vaccine will have to be given to boys as well.